Opinion; The Nurses are our last hope in the fight against covid-19.

 Nurses during a past nurses strike.

The unforeseen covid-19 thud has hit our country and exposed a great shortfall in the  health work force in our health institutions country wide.

There has arisen urgent need for extra personnel to bridge the gap as the inevitable  demand for  Heath care providers grows, in efforts to contain the rapidly spreading disease.

In response to this crisis, the President directed for the release of Ksh. 1bn to hire more health workers and another 2.6bn to be used in enhancing the welfare of health workers, including unpaid salaries.

Forming part of the vast and diverse health workers body are the nurses. Nurse are the only cadre of health professionals specifically trained to care for the patients; they handle the patients directly from admission to discharge, they are in direct contact and are therefore exposed to whatever conditions Patients could be suffering from, including covid-19.

Nurses form a part of our forefront solders in the fight against covid-19, they are the centre of gravity of our strength, yet are the least motivated and the most exposed.

The Umbrella body of health professionals, the Health Professionals Society of Kenya already issued a strike notice, effective this week, terming it the "last resort" , saying the government has turned a deaf ear on their demands, which include the need for protective equipment, delayed salaries and related grievances. The nurse particularly said they will down their tools because the government has discriminated them in promotions, that the doctors have been given much attention at their expense.

While I would expect the health workers to have exhausted all available mechanisms to have their issues addressed with the government, staging the strike is logically justified.

It's disheartening for nurses to complain of delayed salaries at a  time when 2.66 billion has been released to cover up for such deficiencies. If their complains, are anything to go by, it's irrational for the government motivate a section of the health workforce at the expense of the other yet all are expected to work cohesively and provide the much needed services in the escalating fight against covid-19.

Welfare includes safety, and every other person in the world today is looking for nothing but safety. Safety is what our nurses have been deprived of; safety not only from the harsh economy but also from the virus. We are two months into the fight yet there is a great deficiency in the number of PPEs for nurses country wide; we've allocated cash, received donations, initiated local production but the nurse still feels unprotected. It's therefore important that we identify the weak links, something is clearly a miss somewhere.

Kenya does not have adequate Health workers, hence the need for more as indicated by the President's move. But sadly, the few available ones are hopelessly demoralized. We have the direction and  a clear path to follow in keeping covid-19 away, but we lack the very essential push, the willingness, the urge and the general motivation to put up a spirited fight.

Facing covid-19 with a vulnerable and exposed health workforce is equivalent to self destruction. Our fate rests on their shoulders. It therefore calls for a shift in priority, to ensure our health workforce is not only financially enabled, but also socially supported and morally motivated.

It is high time the government gave a listening ear and work out swift frameworks with the relevant bodies and institutions to put health worker in the required standards for the combat with covid-19, at least before it is too late.

We stand suffering a "knock out punch" if we don't seal our weak points and exploit out strengths when we still can. Italy and the US are living examples of what the "Knock out punch" feels like. We can avoid it, if we set our priorities to first things. Our health workers are our first thing.

Victor Oyuko
Blogger